When terminating the end of a coax cable, one of the most difficult and time consuming aspects is the proper splaying of the wire shield preparatory to its termination to a ground contact. In such a terminating process the crimping ferrule is usually slipped over the cable, the end of the cable stripped, the center conductor terminated, and then the wire shield terminated to the ferrule and a ground shell. Since the wire shield is usually wedged between the crimping ferrule and the ground shell, the wire shield must first be splayed outwardly so that the ground shell can be slipped over the insulated center conductor and under the wire shield prior to crimping. The splaying operation is usually accomplished manually by using tweezers to grasp portions of the wire shield and pull them outwardly in a somewhat fan shape, working around the circumference of the cable until all of the portions of the wire shield are disposed radially outwardly, approximately normal to the axis of the cable. A portion of the insulation of the insulated center conductor is stripped as desired to bare the center conductor for later termination to a contact. The ground shell is then slipped over the insulated center conductor and abutted against the splayed wire shield. The wire shield is then folded down over the shank of the ground shell and the ferrule slid over the shank with the wire shield wedged in between and crimped. This is an inefficient and tedious operation resulting in varying levels of quality, depending in part on the individual doing the work.
What is needed is a tool and method of using that assures a repeatable high quality wire shield splaying that is inexpensive and simple to perform.